Game



K. J. GRoss ErAL 2,930,621

March 29, 1960 GAME Filed Sept. 25. 1954 9m MJD.

GAME

Kenneth I. Gross, Van Nuys, and Sebron Koster, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application September 23, 1954, Serial No. 457,972

11 Claims. (Cl. 273-134) This invention relates to games and particularly to Vgame boards which provide a predetermined path along which each player moves his playing piece during the course of the game, the path being divided into a plurality of spaces or segments each having a determining inueuce on the play, and in which the extent of each players move is established by chance.

Such games are well-known e.g. Monopoly, disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,026,082, issued December 31, 1935, and the game which provides actions of trading in securities and commodities disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,666,644, issued January 19, 1954. They have the feature of requiring a certain degree of individual skill to turn chance-determined actions to best advantage.

The present invention is an improvement over such games in that it provides a construction and incorporates devices which enable actions such as that of electing a President of the United States to be simulated. Other objects of the invention are to provide a game which has distinct educational value and in which the play can be inliuenced by a player in a manner analogous to the strategy used by a party in a presidential election campaign whereby the electoral votes can be acquired in such a way as to start a landslide in favor of that party, as the other parties are eliminated.

In order that the principle of the invention may be readily understood we have disclosed a speciiic embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form or arrangement of a game board or playing iield arranged according to our invention and showing the various segments of the playing path marked to represent each as one of the States `of the United States of America and showing as its elements the number of electoral votes of that state.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of six .diierent markers used by the several players respectively, each representing a specific political party, for registering the location of the respective players on the playing path.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing typical specimens of a 'set of cards, there being one such card for each State initially placed beside the segment representing that State on the playing path.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing typical specimens of a set of tokens representing 1, 5 and l() electoral votes apiece. Each of the six sets of tokens corresponds to one political party and is distinguished by color from the other sets.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the die used to determine the extent of move a player may make along the playing path and the number of votes he acquires on the segment attained.

In the fonn shown in the drawings, the improved game board 1 is of at rectangular form and is provided with a circumferential playing path 2 which is closed upon itself and which is divided into a plurality of segments or spaces 3. From the centre of each of the four sides an alternative segmented path 4 is also provided to the ttes Patent ice centre of the board where it meets the other three alternative paths in a common central segment 5, designated Washington, D C.

Each of the segments of the playing path is provided with an individual designation as a single State and with the number of electoral votes accorded to that State. The designations are provided iu such a manner as to group the States in a roughly geographical arrangement on the playing path. The following is a list of the States giving the number of electoral votes accorded to each:

Western States Mid-Western States 4 Arizona 27 Illinois 32 California 13 Indiana 6 Colorado 10 Iowav 4 Idaho 8 Kansas 4 Montana 20 Michigan 3 Nevada 1l Minnesota 4 New Mexico 13 Missouri 6 Oregon 6 Nebraska 4 Utah 4 North Dakota 9 Washington 25 Ohio 3 Wyoming 4 South Dakota 12 Wisconsin 79 153 Southern States (13) Eastern States (12) The following is a list of the political parties indicating the insignia and colors of the corresponding markers and sets of tokens:

At the start of the play of a game each player selects his political party and takes his marker and tokens to match. Each player or candidate rolls the die and the candidate who rolls high die opens the play. He is succeeded in turn by each candidate in a clock-Wise direction. All candidates begin their campaign from the central segment, viz. Washington, D.C.

The number appearing on the die indicates the number of segments (States) which the candidate may move vhis marker and the number of electoral votes he wins in the State attained. He places his marker on that State and beside it his tokens corresponding to the number of votes thereby won in that State.

On each turn a candidate may move in any direction he chooses. The choice of routes allowed to candidates enables them to exert an influence on the development of their campaigns. In passing through a junction of three States he may traverse only two of the States in the course of any one move. He may not reverse his direction of movement in the course of one move. A candidate may notland on nor pass through aState assaai loccupied by another candidates marker. lf the move- 'ment of a candidate is blocked by the markers of other candidates in such a manner that he cannot move his marker to the full extent of his throw of the die, then he loses thatA turn. A candidate must move if possible.

A candidate must return to Washington, D.C. at any time that his throw or the die could 'place him there, providing that Washington, D.C. Vis unoccupied.

The number of electoral Votes of a State won by a candidate is indicated by his tokens placed alongside that State. The entire electoral vote of a State is won by the first candidate to obtain a majority of the electoral votes of that State. When a State is won by a candidate he removes the card of that State and all the electoral vote tokens on that State are returned to their respective candidates.

States that have not been won are indicated by the presence of the State cards still beside them. Any candidate may land on a State that has been Won by another candidate irrespective of the presence or absence of electoral votes remaining unacquired.

Whenever a candidate lands on Washington, D C., he has the right to call a caucus if he so desires. When a caucus is declared all candidates count the electoral votes of the States they have won completely, as indicated by the State cards in their possession. The outstanding electoral votes relating to States not yet Won are also counted. Should the candidate with the least number of electoral votes be unable to win the election even by winning all the electoral votes ot the States which are `not yet won completely then he is eliminated as a presidential candidate. Only one candidate may be eliminated on each caucus. Y

If on the calling of a caucus, the tally of electoral votes indicates that every candidate still has a chance to Win the election assuming his acquisition of all outstanding electoral votes, then the candidate calling the caucusloses all his electoral votes on States not won completely; that is he removes all his electoral vote tokens from the board.

The electoral vote tokens of the eliminated presidential candidate on the States not completely Won are removed from the board. The electoral votes of the States completely won by thek eliminated candidate are divided among the remaining candidates according to the geographical distribution set out in the table above.y ln other words the candidate with the most electoral votes from the Eastern States, takes all Vthe Eastern States from vthe eliminatedcandidate and similarly for the other geographical groups of States. Y Y

The presidential election is won by the first candidate who captures'266 or more electoral votes. l

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it is intended as illustrative in a generic sense and not for purposes of limitation and it will be understood that variations of the apparatus and the game board shown may be made Without departing from the spirit of this invention, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A board game apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, said segments having respectively designations for different entities, each said entity being characterized by a predetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of'each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent o the movement of the playing' pieces and the number ofelements acquired by each player on each movement, the direction of said movement being open to the choice ofltherespective player, and incorporating a segment per- 'iiig piece aeeupies' if sf redistribution of sie acquired elements and entities depending upon the distribution of the elements at that point in the game.

2. A board game apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, said segments having respectively designations for different entities, each said entity being characterized by a predetermined number or" elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement, the direction of said movement being open to the choice the respective player, and incorporating a segment permitting the arbitrary initiation by a player whose play-v ing piece occupies it of a redistribution of the acquired elements and entities depending upon the distribution of the elements at that point in the game, enabling the players to simulate the prosecution of a presidential election campaign.

3. A board game apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, said segments having respectively designations for different entities, each such entity being'characterized by a predetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said `segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, andy means for determining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement each said movement being open to the choice of up to eight directions.

4. A board game apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, said segments having respectively designations for diier'ent entities, each such entity being characterized by a predetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement, and incorporating a segment permitting the arbitrary initiation by a player whose playing piece occupies it of a redistribution of the elements at that point in the game.

5. Aboard game apparatus comprising a boardY having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of ,segments, said segments having respectively designations for dilferent entities, a set of markers each corresponding in designation to one of the entities, each such entity being characterized by a predetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering locationl of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said ele'- ments acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elemen-ts acquired by each player on each movement said movement being open to the choice of up to eight directions.

6. A board game apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality o`fsegments, said segments having respectively designations for different entities, each such entity being characterized by alpredetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for reigster-ing location of each playerv oir-said path, a set, distinctive foreach piayer, of tokens for registering cumlatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement, the direction of the movement being open to choice, and incorporating a segment permitting the arbitrary initiation by a player whose playing piece occupies it of a redistribution of the acquired elements depending upon the distribution of the elements at that point in the game.

7. A board game apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, said segments having respectively designations for different entities, a set of markers each corresponding in designation to one of the entities, each such entity being characterized by a predetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement, the direction of movement being open to choice and incorporating a segment permitting the arbitrary initiation by a player whose playing piece occupies it of a redistribution of the acquired elements depending upon the distribution of the elements at that point in the game.

8. A board game apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, said segments having respectively designations for different entities, each such entity being characterized Iby a predetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement, the direction of the movement being open to choice, and incorporating a segment permitting the arbitrary initiation by a player whose playing piece occupies it of a redistribution of the acquired elements and entities depending upon the distribution of the elev ing a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, representing States arranged in a geographical sequence each segment being characterized by a predetermined number of elements representing votes, a set of individuallydistinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chancethe extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement, the direction of the movement beingv open to choice so as to enable the players to simulate the prosecution of a presidential election campaign.

10. A board game comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments representing States arranged in a geographical sequence, a

set of markers each corresponding in designation to one of the segments, each segment being characterized by a predetermined number of elements representing votes, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for vdetermining by chance the extent of the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement, the direction of the movement being open to choice so as to enable the players to simulate the prosecution of a presidential election campaign.

11. A game board apparatus comprising a board having a playing path thereon divided into a plurality of segments, said segments having respectively designations for different entities, each such entity being characterised by a predetermined number of elements, a set of individually distinctive playing pieces for registering location of each player on said path, a set, distinctive for each player, of tokens for registering cumulatively for each of said segments the number of said elements acquired by each player, and means for determining by chance the extent o-f the movement of the playing pieces and the number of elements acquired by each player on each movement.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,102,594 Kiefer July 7, 1914 1,242,969 Parker Oct. 16, 1917 1,616,328 Nix Feb. 1, 1927 2,026,082 Darrow Dec. 3l, 1935 2,666,644 Strehlow et al Jan. 19, 1954 

